Bank frauds reduced but amount involved went up almost 3X: RBI Report

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its Annual Report for the Financial Year 2025 said that bank frauds have reduced, but the amount involved has gone up almost threefold.

It also said that most cases occurred in digital payments. Private-sector banks reported more cases, but state-owned lenders “contributed maximum” to the fraud amount.

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The report highlighted that as many as 23,953 incidences of fraud involving banks took place, down 34 per cent from FY24. The amount involved in frauds in FY25 was Rs 36,014 crore, up almost three times.

It said the increase in the amount involved in the total frauds reported during 2024-25 over 2023-24 was mainly due to removal of fraud classification in 122 cases amounting to Rs 18,674 crore reported during previous financial years and reporting afresh during the current financial year after re-examination and ensuring compliance with the judgement of the Supreme Court dated March 27, 2023.

According to the report, the state-owned banks reported 6,935 cases, which is 29 per cent, but the amount involved was higher at Rs 25,667 crore, at 71.3 per cent of the total, as compared to Rs 10,088 crore reported by private sector lenders

Regulatory efforts also took centre stage on strengthening fraud reporting mechanisms and encouraging information security preparedness, with an emphasis on cyber resilience. The central payments fraud information registry (CPFIR) reporting was extended to various categories of banks during the year, it mentioned.

An assessment of bank group-wise fraud cases over the last three years indicates that while private-sector banks reported the maximum number of frauds, public sector banks continued to contribute the maximum to the fraud amount.